


Luna

by orangina



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Boys Are Dumb, Cats, Fluff, Happy Ending, Kittens, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 18:33:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6482323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangina/pseuds/orangina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They say that you should always get into at least one major fight before you consider getting married. If you are able to work through it, then go ahead with the marriage. If you can’t, then you’re gonna be in for a rough time.</p><p>Mats’ and Benni’s first major fight began when Benni thought it would be a cute surprise to bring home a kitten one day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Luna

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PixiMe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PixiMe/gifts).



> For Hannah. Hannah, I'm so lucky to have you as a friend. Thank you for always being there for me. I love you <3
> 
> It's late and I'm tired and have to wake up at 4:30 (fml) for work, but I wanted to get this up. The editing is probably very rough, so forgive me. I would say I'll fix it tomorrow, but if you're reading this now then it'll probably be too late by then, so oh well :)

**(I).**

They say that you should always get into at least one major fight before you consider getting married. If you are able to work through it, then go ahead with the marriage. If you can’t, then you’re gonna be in for a rough time.

Mats’ and Benni’s first major fight began when Benni thought it would be a cute surprise to bring home a kitten one day.

“Meet our new family member!” he announced happily as he came crashing through the front door with a kennel in hand.

Mats thought it was a practical joke at first. But when Benni set down the kennel, opened it up, and coaxed out the tiniest little black and white creature Mats had ever seen in his entire life, he knew that he was going to have to disappoint his fiancee by informing him that unfortunately they would need to be bringing that thing right back to the shelter first thing tomorrow morning.

“Matsi, meet Luna. Luna, meet Mats.”

“ _Luna -_ Benni, no, I didn’t say this way okay - ”

“Aw, but I couldn’t just leave her there in that cold shelter with no one to love her! That would’ve been cruel. And look at her, she wouldn’t hurt a thing, would you Luna?” Benni gushed, nuzzling into the kitten, who looked about as horrified as Mats was about the whole situation.

“You don’t understand. This is something we both should have a say in. You can’t just bring _animals_ into the house without asking me - ”

“Have a heart, Mats.”

“What’s the point in having a heart if you can’t use your brain?” Mats shot back.

“Let’s get away from mean old Hummels, Luna,” Benni cooed, spinning around and leaving the room with the kitten tucked safely against his chest.

Mats kicked the kennel angrily.

 

**(II).**

Mats slept on the couch that night after being kicked out of the bed. He woke up the next morning to Benni making a lot of noise in the kitchen, opening up a can of tuna and scraping it out onto a plate.

“There you are, missy. Enjoy.”

Mats rolled his eyes and threw a pillow over his head.

The next thing he knew, there was something light and warm scurrying across his stomach. He lifted up the pillow and there was Benni stood above him, giggling.

“Morning, honey.”

“Benedikt, get the cat off me please.”

“She likes you, though! She just wants to say hi.”

“No she doesn’t,” Mats grumbled. “She has no reason to like me.”

“She has every reason to like you because you’ve welcomed her warmly into our home and you’re her daddy.”

“I am _no one’s_ daddy. Hey, seriously, can you please pick her up? She’s about to crawl on my head…”

Mats had to stop complaining then because sure enough, Luna had started to paw at his face. She climbed over and plopped down, thanking Mats for his hospitality by presenting him with a silky mouthful of fur.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Benni said. He lifted the kitten up, much to the relief of Mats, who had begun to sputter.

“I’m gonna fucking sneeze.”

“Stop being so dramatic. She didn’t mean anything by it, did you, Luna?”

Mats opened his mouth to respond, but he sneezed instead.

“Oh, bless you.” Benni raised his eyebrows, holding the kitten protectively.

“See, look, that thing makes me sneeze. We can’t have it in the house,” Mats sniffled, trying his very best to catch the urge to sneeze again just to prove his point. Sadly, he had no such luck.

“You can go outside if you don’t like her,” Benni replied, and he kissed the kitten on top of her head before disappearing.

“Wait. _I_ have to go outside?!” Mats called upon realizing that Benni had just implied that he was choosing Luna over him. “This is my house!”

“It’s her house, too, now, Matsi. Get used to it.”

 

**(III).**

It surprised precisely no one when Luna chose Benni as her favorite. Whenever Benni was around, Luna would jump up and land lightly on his lap before curling up, purring at a ridiculously high volume. Whenever Mats was around, she would arch her back and stare at him cautiously.

“The feeling’s mutual,” Mats grunted one day when he was dumping his dirty clothes by the washer for Benni to do later.

Although Luna had become far less annoying since growing accustomed to the house and her routine, that didn’t mean that Mats liked her any better. The bathroom always smelled since her litter box was in there, she scratched up the furniture by digging her nails into them, she shed her fur all over everything in the house, and she insisted on eating people tuna rather than cat tuna.

Tired of it all, Mats snatched the vacuum cleaner out of the closet and decided that he was going to make this place cat-proof once and for all.

About halfway through the job, there was a yowling noise and Mats felt something sharp digging into his shin.

“Ow!” he shouted, throwing down the vacuum and falling onto the couch.

He looked down at his leg and saw several bright red welts. This was his last straw. That thing just _had_ to go. He refused to keep something around the house that liked to attack him for no reason.

“What happened? Luna just came bolting into the bedroom and - Oh my, what did you do to her?” Benni exclaimed. He had, as usual, the damn cat in his arms, and Luna was quivering with fear, refusing to look at Mats.

“What do you mean, what did _I_ do to her?! She attacked me!” Mats cried, indicating his shin.

Benni frowned. “She doesn’t attack people for no reason.”

“Are you saying that you think I hurt her?” Mats asked pointedly.

“No, I’m just asking what happened because I’ve never seen her like this before.”

“Really, Benni? You’re asking me what happened? Well, let me tell you: You brought a pet home without consulting with me first and act like it’s no big fucking deal! If we can’t even make a decision like this one together, how are we gonna make decisions about money and wills and in-laws once we’re married? Let me tell, it’s not gonna fucking work so you may as well give me that ring back.”

Mats had gotten up from the couch halfway through his spiel and begun pacing. He already was regretting half of what had come out of his mouth, but his blood was surging with anger and frustration and it felt good to yell.

“Well, if that’s really what you think, then much obliged. And while we’re fighting, I might as well mention that I was the only one who ever did chores around here, anyway. When was the last time you did the laundry? Loaded the dishwasher? Went grocery shopping? I think after everything I’ve done to try and keep you happy that the least I deserve is something that loves me back.”

Benni’s Adam’s apple was quivering, the frightened kitten still bundled up in his arms. After a moment or two of him and Mats glaring at one another, Benni crouched down, put Luna back on the floor and watched her scurry off, then stood up and headed out into the garden, shaking his head as he left.

Mats sighed.

 

**(IV).**

Out in the garden, Benni looked down at his hands in his lap and watched the late afternoon sun sparkle against the ring that Mats had threatened to take back.

He swallowed back the lump that was forming in his throat. Mats was right. If they couldn’t come to a compromise about household pets, then there was no way they were going to be able to handle life as a legally bonded couple.

It was sad, but that was how life worked. It’s nothing but love and attraction at first, but after the first few glory years then it takes a little more than love to keep things going.

“Hey.”

The sliding door had opened and closed again, and Mats took a seat next to Benni on the glider bench.

“You alright?”

Benni nodded, stroking the ring protectively as if he were worried that Mats was going to reach out and snatch it right off his finger.

Then he felt a hand on top of his. “I’m not going to ask for the ring back,” Mats said softly.

Benni pressed his lips together, pushing out a silent sigh of relief. He closed his eyes, trying to think about nothing but the feel of Mats’ hand on his. Mats traced the lifelines on his palm for a bit before slipping his fingers in between Benni’s and locking them together.

“I’m sorry,” Benni finally said. “For not asking you before adopting Luna. I didn’t know it would upset you so much. I thought you’d like it. But I was wrong and you were right. I should’ve asked first.”

“I’m sorry too.”

Benni opened his eyes again, tilting his head so he could see Mats, who’d been watching him the entire time as if he’d finally realized that the boy he fell head over heels for all those years ago was the same man that he had now.

“You had every right to be mad at me,” Benni said.

“I’m not mad at you anymore. There’s no point in being mad anymore and I stayed mad for too long. Whether I like it or not, Luna is ours now. What’s happened has happened. Life isn’t perfect. What matters is that we love each other enough to fight through it.”

“And do we?” Benni almost whispered.

Mats smiled a tiny bit. “Of course we do.”

No matter how many times Mats mentioned that he loved him, Benni could never get over it. The flurry in his chest never left, nor the warmth of his cheeks, nor the bashful grin.

“I think I owe someone else an apology, too,” Mats said after a moment. He dropped a kiss into Benni’s hair before pushing himself off the glider, holding his hand out for Benni and pulling him up too.

They went back inside and found Luna curled up on the best spot in the entire house - Mats’ pillow.

“She’s okay. I think the vacuum was just a bit scary for her, the poor thing,” Benni said upon noticing Mats hesitating.

Mats sat down carefully next to her, holding out his hand so she could sniff him.

Luna nudged Mats’ hand around with her nose for a little bit before determining that he was okay and sticking her face in the crook of his elbow, demanding to be pet.

“Someone likes you,” Benni chuckled.

“I guess I like you too, missy,” Mats said, rubbing the soft spot behind Luna’s ear with two fingers.

“You know what they say comes after pets…”

“Benedikt, I swear if next time you bring home a baby - ”

Benni’s laughter cut him off.

 

**(V).**

Benni was going away for a few days with Schalke to play in the Ukraine for Europa League, and Mats was having a particularly hard time letting him go that morning.

“Mats, I need to get up,” Benni sighed. He’d tried time and time again to untangle himself from Mats’ arms and push the lump that was Mats’ head off his bare chest, but somehow always ended up hugging Mats closer to him instead.

“Yeah, but do you _want_ to?”

“Well, seeing as I’m the captain of Schalke, I don’t think it would fare very well if I missed our flight, so yeah, in a way I guess I do. But the short answer is no.”

“Five more minutes of cuddling then I’ll let you go,” Mats pleaded.

“Ah, fine…”

Benni tried to get himself to relax again, but it was impossible. Once he got his adrenaline going he couldn’t get it to stop. It didn’t exactly help when Mats blew a raspberry onto his nipple.

“Oh my god, that’s it. I’m getting up,” he announced, rolling out of bed and rolling his eyes at the sound of Mats’ immature cackling. He leaned back over to give Mats a smooch on the lips while he still had the chance then straightened himself back up. “Be good. Don’t forget to take out the trash on Thursday morning. And don’t forget to feed Luna while I’m gone, I’ll feed her this morning, but you need to remember to do it tomorrow,” he instructed, twirling his finger around one of Mats’ morning curls and then watching it spring back.

“Yeah, whatever,” Mats croaked.

“Mats!”

“Stop worrying. Just worry about winning your game because I’ve always dreamed about beating your royal blue ass in the finals, to be honest - ”

“Go back to sleep and keep on dreaming, my love.”

*

Thirty minutes later, Benni was gone and Mats’ cheek still felt cool from where Benni’s shower-damp hair had touched it when they hugged goodbye.

“Guess it’s just you and me, missy,” Mats said aloud. Luna was busy making figure eights around his legs while he poured cereal (because when Benni wasn’t around to cook, Mats’ options were limited to whatever required the least number of intermediate steps between the time it was pulled out of the cabinet and the time it was ready to be eaten).

When he went to sit down to eat, he nearly tripped over the little cat and sent a fair amount of milk flying out of his bowl, but couldn’t find it in his heart to be annoyed at her or even let out a swear word. After all, she was his only housemate for the next couple of days.

Instead, after wiping up the milk, he sat down and patted his lap. “C’mere, Luna.”

Luna debated for a moment before leaping up gracefully and landing on Mats’ legs. She tucked her tail under and made herself comfortable, albeit staying alert.

Mats shoveled cereal into his mouth with one hand and pet Luna with the other. It wasn’t long before she was purring and rubbing her face against Mats’ forearm, letting him know that the grudge she had held against him was forgiven at last.

Maybe these next few days wouldn’t be so lonely after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and please leave a kudos or comment if you liked it :)


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